(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing device, and a method for processing a signal of the information processing device. Specifically, the present invention relates to an information processing device for outputting an audio signal to an external device by selecting any one of plural HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) terminals, and a method for processing the signal of the information processing device.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Accompanied with wide distribution of equipment adaptable to digital broadcasting, the HDMI connector has been increasingly employed as the interface for devices which process video and audio signals. There exists equipment provided with plural HDMI connectors.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-141642 discloses the solution to the problem of “output delay of the HDMI receiver which is brought into the state to receive the video signal from the source device after authentication” (see paragraph [0005]) by providing “a receiver device which includes plural digital input terminals, a signal receiver unit for receiving a video signal, and a switching unit for selectively connecting the plural digital input terminals to the signal receiver unit. The signal receiver unit receives the video signal from the external device after authentication with the external device connected to the digital input terminal selected by the switching unit via a transmission channel. The receiver unit further includes a priority order determination unit for periodically determining with respect to priority among plural digital input terminals based on the external device connection information in the plural digital input terminals and the selection information of the video signal for user's image display operation, and a control unit for controlling the switching unit so that the digital input terminal determined by the priority order determination unit as having the highest priority is connected to the signal receiver unit”.